pumpkins

Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites! Pumpkin flowers are edible. Pumpkins are 90% water. Pumpkins are used for feed for animals. Pumpkin seeds can be roasted as a snack. Native Americans used pumpkin seeds for food and medicine. In early colonial times, pumpkins were used as an ingredient for the crust of pies, not the filling. The name "pumpkin" originated from "pepon", the Greek word for "large melon." Pumpkins contain potassium and Vitamin A.

eggs

In the U.S. in 1998, hens produced 6,657,000,000 dozen eggs - that’s 6.657 billion dozen! After these eggs were laid, about two-thirds were sold in the shell and one third of them were broken - not by accident, but on purpose. Because after the eggs are broken out of their shells, they can be made into liquid, frozen, dried and specialty egg products.
The egg shell may have as many as 17,000 tiny pores over its surface. Through them, the egg can absorb flavors and odors. Storing them in their cartons helps keep them fresh!
Eggs age more in one day at room temperature than in one week in the refrigerator.
Occasionally, a hen will produce double-yolked eggs throughout her egg-laying career. It is rare, but not unusual, for a young hen to produce an egg with no yolk at all. It takes 24 to 26 hours for a hen to produce an egg; there is 30 minutes between each egg-producing cycle.
About 240 million laying hens produce about 5.5 billion dozen eggs per year in the United States.
Egg yolks are one of the few foods that naturally contain Vitamin D.

popcorn

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Popcorn pops because water is stored in a small circle of soft starch in each kernel. As the kernel is heated, the water heats, the droplet of moisture turns to steam and the steam builds up pressure until the kernel finally explodes to many times its original volume.
Americans today consume 17.3 billion quarts of popped popcorn each year! The average American eats about 68 quarts!
While the first breakfast cereal was made by adding sugar and milk to popped popcorn, a shortage of baking flours after World War II forced breadmakers to substitute up to 25% of wheat flour with ground popped popcorn. Over the years, popcorn also has been used as an ingredient in pudding, candy, soup, salad and entrees.
Popcorn’s nutritional value comes from the fact that, like other cereal grains, its primary function is to provide the body with heat and energy.
Microwave popcorn is the same as other popcorn except the kernels are usually larger and the packaging is designed for maximum popability.

Aztec food

Maize (also called corn) was the main grain of the Aztec empire. Maize has been domesticated for thousands of years, and it first came into use in Mexico, moving to the rest of the world from there. Mexico is still one of the world's top maize growing countries. Corn could be ground into flour and used to make tortillas, tamales and even drinks. Corn has transformed the world more than any other food. Today it's used not only in food, candy and feeding the cattle. It's even used in things like sticky tape and making boxes. Aztec food also included beans and squash. Maize and beans are still a main item of the Mexican diet, a healthy combination especially if you're not eating a lot of meat. To add to these three, the Mexicas ate chillies, tomatoes, limes, cashews, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peanuts, and of course chocolate. The Mexicas raised bees for honey, and turkeys for meat and eggs, also dogs and duck.  They hunted and fished, and used animals such as deer, rabbits, iguana, fish and shrimp for food.  Even insects, such as grasshoppers and worms were harvested.  These differen types of meats made up only a very minor part of the Aztec food. Large amounts of algae were collected from the surface of the Texcoco Lake water.  High in protein, this algae (tecuitlatl) was used to make bread and cheese type foods.  This algae is still used in Mexico as a fertilizer. The Aztecs often cooked food bundled in the Maguey plant leaves.  This dish is called Mixiotes, and it's still eaten in Mexico.  Different leaves are used because the Maguey population was suffering.
http://www.aztec-history.com/aztec-food.html

Traditional Mexican Food

You can get a good overview of the food from the Aztec peoples. Many of the dishes of the Aztec, and their diet are still familiar in Mexico today - maize (corn), beans, avacados, squash, chillies, and tomatoes. The tomatoes used today are different variety than they were before the arrival Europeans showed up. The nopal cactus has been used for food in a lot of dishes. We all know that chilli peppers make up most of traditional Mexican food. These and salt were so important to the peoples of central Mexico that special religious fasts involved avoiding them. Many of the meats eaten today were an addition from the Spanish. Much traditional Mexican food is made the same way, but with different meats. Common in the days of the empire were turkey and dogs.  At times hunters would also provide deer, rabbit, duck, and other birds.  From the sea came axolotl, a type of salamander, and acocil, a crayfish.  Acocil tacos are still eaten in Mexican restaurants. From the world of bugs, grasshoppers and the maguey worm are two creatures that were probably eaten by the Aztec peoples and are still eaten today.

http://www.aztec-history.com/traditional-mexican-food.html

Fats

           

In biochemistry, fat is a generic term for a class of lipids. Fats are produced by organic processes in animals and plants. All fats are insoluble in water and have a density significantly below that of water (i.e. they float on water.) Fats that are liquid at room temperature are often referred to as oil. Most fats are composed primarily of triglycerides; some monoglycerides and diglycerides are mixed in, produced by incomplete esterification. These are extracted and used as an ingredient.Products with a lot of saturated fats tend to be solid at room temperature, while products containing unsaturated fats, which include monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats, tend to be liquid at room temperature. Predominantly saturated fats (solid at room temperature) include all animal fats (e.g. milk fat, lard, tallow), as well as palm oil, coconut oil, cocoa fat and hydrogenated vegetable oil (shortening). All other vegetable fats, such as those coming from olive, peanut, maize (corn oil), cottonseed, sunflower, safflower, and soybean, are predominantly unsaturated and remain liquid at room temperature. However, both vegetable and animal fats contain saturated and unsaturated fats. Some oils (such as olive oil) contain in majority monounsaturated fats, while others present quite a high percentage of polyunsaturated fats (sunflower, rape).